A series of easy, quick and healthy summer dinner ideas you’ll love

Summertime dinners often need to be quick and easy. Some days are busy with activities and others are just busy spending time as a family or even being a bit lazy! I love summer dinner ideas that are pretty healthy while also being quick and easy. We have central air conditioning, but I still like some dinner ideas for summer that don’t require use of the oven or stove.

So I’m running a series for a few simpler summer dinner ideas over the next few Tasty Tuesdays. I’d love to hear from you and any suggestions you have for what you make for your family during the hot days of summer!

With that in mind, I’m excited to share the first simple summer dinner idea my family enjoys: a DIY salad bar. One of the things I love most is that I can prepare ingredients ahead of time and then just pull them out at dinner for easy, quick serving.

DIY Salad Bar

For a DIY salad bar, put all the salad fixings out on your kitchen counter and let each family member build their own tasty salad. It’s pretty straightforward, and you can totally customize it with what you family likes. I like to get some special salad treats for us that we don’t always have like sunflower seed kernels or a salad topper mix. My husband also loves the crunch of chow mein noodles on his salad, so I include those as well. (And leftover chow mein noodles can be turned into yummy butterscotch haystacks!)

Our salad bar toppings often include the following:

• Lettuce
• Shredded cheese
• Boiled egg
• Diced onion
• Diced bell pepper
• Diced tomatoes
• Shredded or chopped carrots
• Diced cucumbers
• Turkey or ham
• Pepperoni
• Croutons
• Bacon bits
• Chow mein noodles
• Sunflower kernels
• Various salad dressings

My salad bar toppings are often diced because that’s how I prefer them, but obviously you can do them however you like! As you can see from the photo below, I put out the ingredients and let each person fend for themselves. We are not at all fancy with this. In fact, sometimes if I’ve just cleaned the lettuce, it’s laid out on paper towels across the counter to air dry a bit!

You can make your life easier and buy pre-cleaned lettuce or salad mix if you want. I usually get a head of iceberg lettuce, which is what my family likes most, and then plan other meals around the same time that use lettuce like tacos or BLT pizza.

Salad bar sides

I do usually serve up something on the side when we do a salad bar at home. Check out these ideas to go along with your salad bar:

• Crescent rolls
• Garlic bread
• Texas toast
• Crackers (oyster, saltine, butter, etc.)
• Fresh fruit
• Homemade bread (This happens less often around my house!)

Basically, my favorite salad bar side is something I can use to scoop out the residual salad dressing that’s left in my bowl when I’m finished eating! I love a good salad dressing. My all-time favorite is poppyseed salad dressing. It’s so sweet and yummy!

Serving up salad for picky eaters

I’ve mentioned quite a few times that I have some particular eaters in my family. For example, when I make delicious pecan crusted chicken for dinner, my particular eaters would rather have frozen pizza or peanut butter sandwiches. Neither of them like chicken.

So for DIY salad bar nights, I get a little creative. My husband is a fan of salads and salad bars, so that only leaves my son as a picky eater. His biggest complaint is lettuce. He just doesn’t like lettuce. Instead I make him a deconstructed salad with some of his favorites like pepperoni, cheese and croutons. Usually I stick some baby carrots on his plate as well, but we were out of them for the most recent DIY salad bar night we had. And then he’s happy with whatever is on the side. This time it was crescent rolls.

Simple sweets

And then if you’re going with simple summer dinner ideas, you need a simple sweet as well. For DIY salad bar nights, it seems wrong to eat something heavy or rich. Plus hot weather calls for lighter foods, I think. So if I make a sweet for us, it’s usually either oat and honey granola or peanut butter honey nut cereal clusters. I’m a little partial to peanut butter honey nut cereal clusters for simple summer dinners because they only use the microwave and not the oven.

What are your family’s favorite simple summer dinner ideas?

Check out these other simple summer dinner ideas:

A surprisingly easy weeknight chicken recipe your family will love!

When it comes to meat, chicken is my all-time favorite. I really like bacon, but chicken is what I can eat pretty much any time. I think that’s because it’s so versatile. During our recent home meal kit delivery service trial, I found quite a few chicken dishes I fell in love with. One of them was a pecan-crusted chicken recipe. But, the recipe and ingredients were harder to come by not using the meal kit, so I played around with it and figured out my own version that’s just as tasty!

Besides the chicken, you just need a few ingredients to pull of this super easy and delicious weeknight chicken dinner. This is the kind of dinner that makes me feel like I’m eating out.

When I make this recipe, I use two chicken breasts to serve just my daughter and me. My husband and son don’t like chicken, so they have something else. However, I’ve written this recipe to make four chicken breasts or servings to feed a family of four. You can adjust it up or down as needed for your own family.

Prepping for the chicken

Get your oven preheating at 450-degrees with the rack in the center. Then, since it’s pecan-crusted chicken, you may need to prep pecans. If you’ve bought pecan pieces, you don’t have to do anything. I got pecan halves most recently (I store them in the freezer to keep them fresh), so I had to break them up. You can use a knife, your fingers or even a food processor to break them into smaller pieces. You need 2/3-cup of roughly chopped pecans for four chicken breasts.

Once your pecans are ready, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in your microwave and then stir in the pecans, 1/2 cup Panko (I used seasoned Panko, but either works), salt and pepper. If you want a strong flavor, you can also stir in 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon Montreal steak seasoning. While the mixture should be moistened, it should remain with a crumbly texture, like so:

Putting the chicken together

Once your pecan mixture is ready, it’s time to move on to the chicken. If your chicken is frozen, make sure it’s thawed. For even cooking times, I usually pound my chicken inside a paper towel or plastic wrap with my hand or rolling pin, because I have yet to get a meat mallet! Either way, I try to get the breasts to a similar thickness.

Pat your chicken dry with paper towels and place it on a baking sheet liberally coated with non-stick cooking spray or covered with parchment paper or non-stick aluminum foil. I went the non-stick aluminum foil route for easy clean-up of this pecan-crusted chicken recipe.

Season your chicken breasts with either 1 teaspoon total of Montreal steak seasoning or just use salt and pepper. When I made it the first time on my own, I used the Montreal steak seasoning because I had it for another recipe and figured I’d give it a try. It is a strong flavor, though, so spreading 1 teaspoon among four chicken breasts is more than enough.

Next is one of my favorite flavors to go with chicken: honey mustard! I use premade honey mustard salad dressing, because we eat it around my house anyway.

If you don’t have honey mustard, you can make your own with 4 tablespoons mayonnaise, 4 teaspoons honey and 4 teaspoons Dijon or yellow mustard. Either way, you want to top each chicken breast with honey mustard. I used about 1 teaspoon of honey mustard per chicken breast, swirled it on top and then used a spoon to spread it.

Finally, you add the pecan crust to the chicken. Use a spoon to pile the pecan mixture on the top of each chicken breast and cover it well. Press down a bit to make sure it sticks. You only need to put the pecans on the top.

That’s it. Stick your pecan-crusted chicken into the preheated 450-degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes until the crust is brown and the inside middle of the chicken is at least 165-degrees.

Make it a dinner

While the pecan-crusted chicken bakes, I usually prep our sides to go along with it. One of our favorite pairings is oven-roasted broccoli and mashed potatoes. I have learned that scratch mashed potatoes aren’t nearly as difficult to make as I once thought, but to make weeknights easier, I usually make boxed or pouch mashed potatoes. It makes for a delicious plate of food!

An incredibly easy and delicious taco pizza recipe you’re family will love!

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Two of the most popular foods my entire family likes are tacos and pizza. So when I came up with the idea for this taco pizza recipe, I was pretty sure it would be a hit. While it isn’t a replacement for either tacos or pizza, it’s definitely a great way to shake up dinner.

I love recipes that are easy and delicious. This taco pizza recipe is both. While we ate it as the main course for dinner one weeknight, you could also serve it as an appetizer or bring it along to a potluck. It’s also be a great snack for watching sports if that’s your family’s thing.

Originally I was trying to come up with another way to use a crescent roll crust like my BLT pizza recipe does. My daughter loves BLT pizza, but my husband wanted something different. And so this taco pizza recipe was born. And, as you might guess, it all starts with a crescent roll crust!

The crust

I suppose you could use regular pizza dough for this recipe, but the crescent roll crust gives it a buttery, flaky goodness that just can’t be beat! For our family of four, I used two cans of crescent rolls spread out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (easy clean up!). I smushed the seams together decently enough. It really doesn’t have to be perfect!

Once it’s prepped, then you bake it in your preheated oven according to the temperature your crescent rolls say. I have found the crust usually bakes 3 to 5 minutes longer than it takes for the rolls to bake. Check your crust after the suggested time has passed and work from there. You want the crust to be a nice, golden color like this:

The meat

While your crust is baking, cook your meat. I used about one pound of ground chuck for my family. You could use more or less depending on what you family likes. You could also make this with chicken if you’d rather! I used some cooked and frozen crumbled hamburger that I had in my freezer this time to make prep even easier. I thawed it in the microwave and then popped it into one of my beloved Rachael Ray non-stick skillets.

Once the meat was warm, I added taco seasoning and water. I used Old El Paso taco seasoning with 1/4 cup of it and 2/3 cup of water. I let it simmer for the flavors to come together well. Basically, season your meat however you would for tacos. Let it simmer while you prep the other ingredients and wait for the crust to bake.

The “sauce”

Every pizza needs a sauce and this taco pizza recipe is no different! I decided to go with a sour cream sauce, much like what my taco cornbread bake uses. To make fewer dishes, I mixed 1-1/2 cups of sour cream, 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup of diced onion in my 2-cup measuring cup.

When the crescent roll crust was finished baking, I pulled it out of the oven and smeared the sour cream sauce all over the top of it. Then I put it back in the oven (at the same temperature the crust baked at) for 3 minutes to let the cheese start getting melty.

Putting the taco pizza together

Your taco pizza is ready to assemble once you’re finished baking it with sour cream. First, spoon your meat evenly over the top of the sour cream.

Next, crumble up nacho cheese flavored chips. I used classic nacho cheese Doritos. You could use cool ranch or spicy flavors as well — whatever your family prefers. I had two individual bags of nacho cheese Doritos, so I squeezed them in the bags before opening them. Easy peasy! If you have a larger bag, just put the chips into a zip top bag and use your hand to break them up.

Once your chips are broken up, spread them evenly over the top of your taco pizza.

Optional garnishes

The pizza is ready to cut and serve as is. There are some garnishes you might like to add, though. I kept out some extra diced onion that my husband and daughter added on top of theirs. My daughter and I also drizzled a bit of Western salad dressing on top of our slices. Honestly, this kicked the flavor from good to great, so I highly recommend it! Adding some shredded lettuce and tomato on top would also be delicious.

5 Easy egg recipes you can make in your microwave!

Since the pandemic, my daughter and I have been experimenting with microwave egg recipes. We both have our own versions we prefer and we have some that are basic as well. Years ago, I knew you could cook an egg in the microwave and then I forgot. But now it’s something I do regularly.

It’s so easy and takes only a couple of minutes that it makes for a good breakfast, lunch or dinner. Eggs can be cooked so many ways that you really can do almost anything with them. Aside from eating them how I prepare them with a side of toast, I also love egg sandwiches. I use one or two plain scrambled eggs on bread (toasted or plain) with some mayo. Delish!

Basic microwave scrambled eggs

The most basic of all microwave egg recipes is the scrambled eggs. It’s straightforward and a great place to start before you start experimenting with other flavors. (Find a printable version of this recipe below, because almost all the other microwave egg recipes use these same steps.)

For scrambled microwave eggs, you need two bowls to start with. Make sure that one is microwave safe. You’ll also need non-stick cooking spray, cooking oil or a small bit butter and, of course, eggs! You can use a whisk or a fork. I’m a fork fan, but my daughter loves the whisk.

Next, spray your microwave-safe bowl with non-stick cooking spray, spread a small amount of cooking oil in the bowl or rub butter on its inside surface. I use non-stick cooking spray and am generous with it so I don’t get any egg sticking to my bowl.

In your clean bowl, crack one or two eggs. (You can do more at a time, but you’ll need a larger bowl and more microwave time.) Discard the shells and start stirring to get the egg yolk broken up and incorporated. If you like to add a splash of milk into your eggs, you can do so. Just know that you might have to cook it a tad longer.

Once your egg is thoroughly mixed up, pour it into the prepared microwave-safe bowl. Place it in your microwave and cook on high for 50 seconds for 1 egg or 1 minute, 5 seconds for 2 eggs. Be aware that when you cook eggs like this in the microwave, they will rise outside the bowl. It looks kind of crazy and even scary, but it works!

Remove your eggs from the microwave, being careful if the bowl is hot. Immediately transfer onto a serving plate. Give them a couple of minutes to cool, so you don’t burn your mouth, and enjoy!

Microwave cheesy scrambled eggs

Microwave cheesy scrambled eggs are the one I make most often and is frequently my lunch alongside a couple slices of toast. I love eggs for the protein that really does fill me up! The other thing I like about this is I can easily add the cheese on top if I want or leave it plain. The cheese melts on its own if you put it on right out of the microwave, which is nice.

For cheesy eggs, I make the scrambled eggs exactly as described in the basic microwave scrambled eggs direction, but after I put the eggs on my plate, I sprinkle with a small amount of cheese. Since the eggs are so hot out of the microwave, the cheese melts on its own. So incredibly yummy!

Microwave Italian flavored scrambled eggs

My daughter likes to experiment with a variety of flavors. So it wasn’t a shock that she decided to play around with the microwave egg recipe. She has been on a big garlic kick, so she added some garlic and a dash of Italian seasoning into her eggs as she whisked them up, before pouring them into the microwave-safe bowl. She then continued on with the basic microwave scrambled eggs.

Microwave buttery scrambled eggs

If you cook your basic scrambled eggs with some butter lining the bowl, you’ll get some butter flavor. But to kick it up a notch, try adding some butter popcorn seasoning. We have butter seasoning for popcorn. Just a sprinkle of it into the egg before or after it’s cooked adds some yummy flavor!

Microwave mini omelette scrambled eggs

Of all the microwave egg recipes, I like this one probably the most. I see it as a treat. I love omelettes. Though I make the cheesy scrambled eggs most often, the added flavor of bacon or sausage in this version is decadent!

I like using pre-cooked bacon or sausage because it’s way easier. If I’m pulling sausage from the fridge, I stir it into the egg mixture cold and then cook it. Because I like my bacon crispy, I cook it first in the microwave and then stir it into the egg mixture to heat in the microwave.

I also stir cheese into the mixture as well before cooking and, sometimes, I still top it with some shredded cheese as well for extra cheesy goodness!

Looking for more easy, microwave foods? Check out these:

An extra ingredient kicks this puppy chow recipe up a notch!

Whether you call this a puppy chow recipe or a muddy buddy recipe, I can tell you that you’ll call it addictively delicious!

Here in the Midwest, I hear it called puppy chow most often, so that’s what I’m going with. It’s one of the easiest and scrumptious recipes I make.

You can’t go wrong combining peanut butter and chocolate in any capacity, but not every puppy chow recipe is created equal. I’ve tried multiple ones through the years and have finally found the best recipe.

When I made puppy chow for this post, I made a half batch since my husband doesn’t like it. (I know. He’s crazy! But he doesn’t like semi-sweet chocolate.)

The very next day, I made a second half batch because we ran out. It’s just so good and hard to resist.

I’ve always liked puppy chow, but for whatever reason, it is what I’ve craved most throughout quarantine time with COVID. The good news is I’ve made it enough now to know how to best tweak it and make it yummy.

The bad news is that I can’t make it too often or I’d be in a sugar coma. 🙂

The ingredients

The ingredients are important because the wrong thing changes the taste. First, use smooth peanut butter for this puppy chow recipe. Second, use rice squares instead of corn squares. I’ve used both and the rice squares taste better for this!

Not all puppy chow recipes use butter but I find it coats better and tastes better by using a bit of it. I use salted butter, but if you have unsalted, I think it’d be just fine, too, since you get some saltiness from the peanut butter as well.

Finally, my extra ingredient that doesn’t show up too often in muddy buddy recipes is vanilla extract. Trust me on this. You use just a bit and it will kick your flavors up a notch!

Preparing the puppy chow

One of the things I love most about this puppy chow recipe is that it’s quick to make and you can use the microwave. This means even my kids can make it or help me make it. I love that!

Start with putting your butter, peanut butter and chocolate chips in a large microwave-safe bowl. I use a big glass bowl so I can rinse it and put it in the dishwasher when I’m finished.

Put the bowl in the microwave and heat for 45 second and then stir. Remember that chocolate holds its shape as it melts, so you have to stir to tell how melted it is.

Continue heating in your microwave in 30 second increments, stirring after each time until it’s completed melted and runny like the photo below. Usually mine is ready after the first 30-second round.

When it’s nice and runny, stir in the vanilla extract. Once it’s all combined, it’s time to gently fold in the rice cereal squares. For a half batch, I use about 5-1/2 cups of cereal. You want the cereal to be well coated but not too thickly covered.

Once the cereal has a nice coating of the chocolate and peanut butter mixture, it’s time to covered it in powdered sugar. I place powdered sugar in a gallon-sized zip-top bag and then pour the prepared mix on top of it.

However, I do this in batches as well using about 1/2 cup per three cups of cereal mix. So for a half batch, I do this twice. For a full batch, it takes four times.

The zip-top bag works great for this puppy chow recipe shakedown. Once it gets too messy, it may not re-zip, but just fold the top over tightly and you’re good to go.

Shake it to cover the cereal in powdered sugar. Carefully break apart clumps from the outside and make sure all the pieces are coated in powdered sugar.

Get your snack on!

That’s it! Your puppy chow is ready to munch on. Place it in an airtight container and keep it covered, but it doesn’t have to be refrigerated.

For us, containers with lids work better than using a zip-top bag which can be harder to seal well once it gets powdered sugar in the track.

Stored well, it should last for up to a week. Well, it should stay fresh for up to a week, but I’m not sure it will ever last that long. It’s too yummy.

Puppy chow also makes a great gift for friends and family. I have often included it in my holiday goodies.

Looking for more easy, microwave desserts? Check out these:

An appetizer, side or snack you can make in minutes!

My daughter is more adventurous in the kitchen than I am. I tend to go by recipes. She tends to use recipes and get creative as well. I love her creations and willingness to try things. (She’s made some delicious microwave fudge recipes this way!) Over the summer, she found a picture of meatball pockets that didn’t have a recipe with it. So, she came up with it on her own. The results were this super easy, yummy meatball pocket recipe you can make in minutes!

These meatball pockets can be a snack, appetizer or side. We used it as a side dish to go along with Spaghetti-Os. (I know. We are super fancy like that!) I also like that even my 8-year-old could easily help us with this recipe.

I also love that this meatball pocket recipe is only two ingredients: canned crescent rolls and frozen meatballs. You can serve them with pizza or marinara sauce. (But I can also tell you that they taste good dipped in Spaghetti-Os!)

How to make the meatball pockets

I chose homestyle meatballs for this recipe. My family isn’t big on anything spicy, so these were great for us. They were flavorful without being spicy or peppery. You can pick meatballs based on your family’s tastes. You can also use homemade meatballs if you would rather.

No matter what kind of meatball you use, they need to be thawed. If you are using fresh, homemade ones, you’re good to go. If you are using frozen ones, pop 16 of them in the microwave on thaw or 50% power to get them to about room temperature.

Preheat your oven according to the directions on the crescent roll package.

While the meatballs are thawing and oven is preheating, open the crescent rolls. (I cannot open canned crescent rolls. It scares me way too much, so my husband or 8-year-old son open them!) Unroll the sheets and gently break the rolls apart at the perforation into their triangle shape.

Then use a sharp knife to cut the triangles in half, so you have halves of the usual crescent roll size. (NOTE: You can make these with whole crescent rolls if you want them to be bigger or more bread-y. We tried both ways and like them either way.)

Next, plop a meatball in the center of the halved crescent triangle and fold the crescent roll dough around the meatball. Pinch it closed as much as possible.

When they are enclosed in dough, place the meatball pockets a baking sheet. I put parchment paper on my baking sheets to make for easier clean-up. If you don’t use parchment paper, follow the directions on the crescent rolls. The crescent rolls I used said they should be baked on ungreased baking sheets. Space the meatball pockets a couple of inches apart.

Place them in your preheated oven and bake them for 9 to 12 minutes until the crescent roll dough has become golden brown and they are heated through.

Serve the meatball pockets warm with marinara or pizza sauce for dipping, if desired. You end up with 16 meatball pockets per can of crescent rolls. Refrigerate any leftovers and reheat in the microwave.

With 5 ingredients and no cooking needed, you’ll fall in love with this mint chocolate chip mousse recipe!

A few weeks ago, my daughter wanted to try making a new recipe. We tried an ice cream based recipe that used chocolate sandwich cookies and mint to make a mint chocolate cake. It was good.

But the topping was what we loved the most. It was like a mousse. So that inspired us to do some tweaking and develop this mint chocolate chip mousse recipe.

As a lifelong lover of all things mint and chocolate, I have fallen in love with this mousse!

The flavor isn’t all I love about this mint chocolate chip mousse recipe. I also like that only uses five ingredients and is easy to whip up.

In fact, you can make it ahead of time for guests, pop it in the fridge and be ready to go. If you want a less creamy and airy texture, you can stick it in the freezer. But, I love the creamy, airy texture of mousse!

This would also work great as a pie if you pile the mousse on top of a chocolate cookie crumb crust!

Ingredients

Seriously, this mint chocolate chip mousse recipe only needs five ingredients that are pretty basic.

You need one 7-ounce jar of marshmallow creme, one 16-ounce container of heavy whipping cream, 1/4-cup of milk, 1/2 teaspoon of mint or peppermint extract and 3/4- to 1-cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips.

If you want to color your mint chocolate chip mousse, you also need a few drops of green food coloring, but that’s completely optional.

And if you are more of a cookie fan than chocolate chips, you can easily replace the mini chocolate chips with crushed chocolate sandwich cookies. Milk chocolate chips would be a bit rich, so if you go that route, use less of them.

You could try dark chocolate as well (that’s what I would love but my family not so much!). Of course, if chocolate isn’t your thing, just skip the chocolate all together and enjoy a mint mousse!

Directions

Pour your heavy whipping cream into a mixer bowl. You can use a stand mixer or a handheld mixer. Use the whisk attachment(s) for the mixer and beat the whipping cream for a few minutes until soft peaks form.

Start with a lower level of mixing and gradually increase it as the whipping cream begins to thicken. (If you go too fast too soon, the liquid will splatter out of the bowl.) The whipping cream should look like this:

In a separate bowl, combine the milk, marshmallow cream and mint extract. If you’re going to use food coloring this is the best time to put it in. (I completely forgot to put it in until the next step. So if you forget this, it will work in the step next as well. However, you will end up needing to use more food coloring if you wait until the next step.)

Stir the milk, marshmallow cream, mint extract and optional food coloring together well but carefully so as not to splash out of the bowl. The mixture should be less sticky and look like this:

Next gently fold the whipped cream into the bowl with the marshmallow cream mixture.

The mousse is all ready for mix-ins. I suggest mini semi-sweet chocolate chips, but you can use the chocolate you prefer or even skip the chocolate all together if you’d rather.

I started with 3/4-cup of the mini chips and then added about another 1/4 cup. My kids say I should use less chocolate next time, so the 3/4-cup of mini chocolate chips is probably best.

But, if you’re a chocolate lover like I am, feel free to add a full cup or even more. I didn’t think there was any issue with the amount of chocolate chips!

Whatever you decide to mix in, do so gently like you folded in the whipped cream to keep the mousse light and airy.

Once everything is mixed in, the mint chocolate chip mousse is ready! I let mine hang out in the fridge for about an hour before we ate it, but you can eat it right away.

Definitely store leftovers covered in the refrigerator. If you want a firmer consistency for your mint chocolate chip mousse, then put it in the freezer.

Are you looking for other no-bake, easy and delicious dessert recipes? Check out these!

Chocolate, mint chocolate, brownie batter, cherry cordial and toffee bar chocolate fudge easily made in your microwave!

A few weeks ago, my daughter wanted something chocolate, but we were out of chocolate in our house. Sad state of affairs that it was, we decided to try a chocolate microwave fudge recipe. It turned out so well that we’ve made it multiple times since then.

And my daughter, unlike me, likes to experiment with recipes. I tend to follow the recipe to the letter and change very little about it. But, my daughter did some experimenting and I’m so glad she did. We ended up with an easy microwave fudge recipe that you can make four different ways. It’s so easy and delicious. All of it starts with the basic chocolate fudge.

Affiliate links are used in this post. If you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. Read my full disclosure here.

Microwave chocolate fudge recipe

Prep your 8×8-inch baking dish. We usually use our glass baking dish for this recipe because it’s dishwasher safe. If your pan is a non-stick dish, you don’t need to do anything to it. Otherwise, give your pan a light coating of non-stick cooking spray to keep the fudge from sticking.

Set your dish aside and in a microwave-safe bowl, mix together 4 cups of powdered sugar, 1/2-cup of cocoa powder, 1/4 cup of milk and 1 stick of butter cut into small pieces. We found out that Crisco shortening also works for this recipe in a pinch, which is why the “butter” in this photo looks so white!

Microwave the mixture for 2 to 4 minutes until the butter is melted. It should look something like this:

Next, stir in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Pour the fudge into your prepared baking dish.

Let it chill in the refrigerator for an hour or speed up the process by using the freezer for about 15 minutes. Once it is set, it’s ready to cut and serve. It doesn’t have to be chilled again.

Microwave mint chocolate fudge recipe

The first variation on this microwave fudge recipe is mint, because nothing goes together better than mint and chocolate (in my opinion!).

All you do is switch out the vanilla for 1 teaspoon of mint extract. Note that it is half the amount of vanilla, because mint is a stronger flavor.

Brownie batter fudge recipe

Again, after microwaving is when you make a simple switch for the brownie batter fudge recipe. This was the first variation my daughter made, and I loved it. For the brownie batter fudge, add the 2 teaspoons of vanilla extra PLUS 1 tablespoon of chocolate syrup (like the kind you put over ice cream).

Cherry cordial fudge recipe

This was the newest concoction and, dare I say, my absolute favorite. Even my parents, who don’t particularly like chocolate, loved this version. My husband, who is a particular eater loved it as well. It truly tastes like a cherry cordial (aka chocolate-covered cherry).

After microwaving your ingredients, stir in 1/2 teaspoon almond extract, 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract and 2 teaspoons of cherry juice. We used juice from a jar of maraschino cherries.

Toffee bar chocolate fudge recipe

This is one of the easiest variations to make. I had some toffee bits left from making my chewy toffee cookies, so my daughter decided to use them with fudge. She topped the original chocolate fudge with them and applied them liberally. It gave the fudge a bit of a crunch with the toffee flavor and was delicious. You might think of your favorite chocolate and toffee candy bar while you eat it — I did!

With two different kinds of chocolate and optional Cadbury eggs, this cookie recipe will satisfy your sweet tooth!

Affiliate links are used in this post. If you make a qualifying purchase via my link, I receive a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products and services I use and love. It helps support my blog, so thank you for your support! Read my full disclosure here. 

One of my favorite desserts to make — and eat! — is cookies. I’ve shared a couple of family favorite cookie recipes before like my peanut butter cookie recipe and my toffee chip cookie recipe. This white and milk chocolate chip cookie recipe, though, is perfect for springtime. I first made it eight years ago. Then I sort of forgot about it. I made it again this year and I’m trying to not eat my weight in these cookies!

I also LOVE Cadbury eggs. And I know. People either love or loathe them. I’m 100% in the love category. Their creamy goodness makes me happy. I’ve haven’t been as much into the mini, hard-shelled Cadbury eggs, though. But this recipe has changed that. You can totally make the recipe without the Cadbury eggs to enjoy it year-round. However, the Cadbury mini eggs make a nice addition to the cookie. (Pick some up on sale after Easter and toss them in your freezer to enjoy them year-round!)

The other nice thing about this white and milk chocolate chip cookie recipe is that it makes about 8-9 dozen cookies, which is double with a “normal” batch of cookie dough makes. In fact, since I wasn’t feeding a huge crowd, I baked out half the dough and put the other half in a flat gallon size zip-top storage bag in my freezer to bake later.

Dealing with the candy

If you’re going to use the mini Cadbury eggs with the crunchy candy shell, start there. You also opt for another milk or white choclate-ly candy if you find yourself with a lot of something else. Just follow the same steps. (If you’re not using any candy, skip this step and move on to the dough.) The recipe calls for one 10-ounce package, which looks like this:

You need to crush or rough chop the candy. I put it in a zip-top bag and hit it with my rolling pin. You can also use a spoon. My 8-year-old son helped me and quite enjoyed hitting and banging around in the kitchen.

You want the candy in small pieces, but not totally crushed. It should look something like this:

Moving on to the dough

Next, turn your oven on to 350-degrees to preheat. If you’re using candy set it aside for now. It’s time to get the dough going. Start with two sticks (1 cup) of slightly softened butter or margarine. I used butter this time but used margarine before and both work just fine. You want them ever-so-slightly soft like this:

Put the softened butter into your mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer if you’re using one. Add in both the white and brown sugar and beat until light and fluffy. I used my stand mixer and started at “stir” until they were combined, then I worked my way up to level 6. After about 2 to 3 minutes, the mixture looked like this:

Next, mix in each egg one at a time and then add the vanilla. Get a second mixing bowl and stir together the flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder until they are combined. Slowly add the dry mixture into the wet mixture and let your dough come together until everything is incorporated. It should thicken up and look like this:

Now it’s time to stir in the goodies. I stir in the white chocolate and milk chocolate chips first. Then I add the Cadbury mini egg pieces. If you are using other candy, stir it in last like the Cadbury eggs. If you are using only the chips, then do those. You can add extra white or milk chocolate chips if you’d like. One of my favorite things with this cookie recipe is that it has so many chips that each bite ends up with at least a chip of some sort.

Baking the cookies

Now you’re ready to start baking. I use parchment paper on my cookie sheets because it makes clean-up way easier and the cookies never, ever stick to the pan. I highly recommend it! No matter what, you want to form the dough into approximately 1-inch balls. I used a cookie scoop for mine because it is faster and easier. Place the dough balls on your cookie sheet.

Bake the cookies in your preheated to 350-degree oven for 10 minutes until the edges are slightly browned. Take them out of the oven and cool on the baking sheet for about a minute before transferring them to a cooling rack to finish cooling. Do your best to let them cool enough that they won’t burn your mouth before enjoying them!

Store them in an airtight container. I use gallon-sized zip-top bags. These white and milk chocolate chip cookies stay fresh for about a week.

Crispy, delicious quesadillas made in your oven

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I love easy recipes that are customizable for what my family likes. I’ve got a couple of particular eaters in my house. This easy baked quesadilla recipe fits that category.

Before we had kiddos, I came up with this recipe for my husband and me and I continue to make it now. This recipe is pretty straightforward and simple but you can switch it up to include whatever your family likes.

Preheat the oven to 400-degrees (F) and prepare your baking sheets. You can spray them with non-stick cooking spray or line them with sheets parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

I prefer to line my baking sheets for easier clean-up. I also like the parchment paper because then I can use a marker to write the first initial beside the quesadilla of who it belongs to since they are all different in some way.

Once you’re all set up then get out your tortillas. I use two tortillas per quesadilla, but you could also use one quesadilla folded in half.

Tortillas are where the baked quesadilla recipe starts. You could use wheat tortillas. I used flour. And you can pick the size. I made smaller soft taco-sized tortillas for my son’s quesadillas. I used the larger burrito-sized tortillas for my husband, daughter and me.

To help them crisp up nicely in the oven, I spritz one side of each tortilla with margarine spray. You can also use melted butter and your spray bottle to spritz the shells or lightly brush it on. I do around 10 squirts for the large burrito-sized shells. I spray the bottom first and then spray the top shell after I place it on top when the filling is in.

With the buttered side face down onto the cooking sheet, put the filling in your quesadillas. Get creative with what your family likes. My son’s was just cheese. My husband’s had bacon and onion with a small amount of cheese.

My daughter and I opted for a chicken bacon ranch version. It was so incredibly good. To make it easier, I used precooked refrigerated chicken, precooked bacon cooked to a crisp in the microwave, ranch dressing, tomato, onion and roughly chopped baby spinach.

Put the quesadillas into the preheated oven and bake them for 6 minutes. Pull them out and flip them over. Put them back in the oven for another 6 minutes. Check and see if they are golden brown around the edges. If so, they are finished. If not, leave them in there and check again in 2 minutes.

Use a pizza cutter (or sharp knife) to slice the quesadillas and serve them warm. We always eat sour cream with ours, because our family LOVES sour cream!